Father, Brother, Son
by dd9736
Summary: Nick has a few suprises for everyone. This gives a peek into Nick's life. slightly AU.
1. Father

This one peeks into Nick's life outside CSI. ^sign language ^  
  
"Nick, you're on the home invasion, Cath, you and Sara have a downtown shooting, Warrick, you're with me on a floater," Grissom said, I took my slip, and began to walk away.  
  
"Griss, can I please have one simple home invasion?" Warrick asked.  
  
"Warrick, the home invasion is Nick's case," Grissom said, "Let's go."  
  
I smiled to myself, a home invasion would be a case on easy street for me, good night for one, and I opened my sunroof, as I drove.  
  
"CSI Nick Stokes," I showed my ID to the officer at the door.  
  
"The front door was unlocked when the owner arrived home, Jewelry is the only thing gone, upstairs bedroom," He said.  
  
I walked upstairs, there was a second officer in the bedroom, with a man who was motioning at the open jewelry box. "The jewelry is the only thing that's missing?" I asked, it surprised me, if someone knew the house, enough to take the jewelry, why not take anything else?  
  
"Yeah, who are you?" he asked.  
  
"CSI Nick Stokes, so what kind of jewelry was it?" I replied.  
  
"Diamonds, mostly, why?" He looked at me.  
  
"How much?" I asked, almost cringing.  
  
"About five hundred thousand," he replied.  
  
I began dusting the area around the jewelry box for prints, it was to small a job for a real professional, but whoever it was obviously knew what they were doing. In the end, there were no prints, not that I expected any.  
  
"Did you touch anything, anything at all?" I asked.  
  
"Just the front door, as I came in," The man replied.  
  
"Are you sure about that?" I asked.  
  
"Definitely," He replied.  
  
"Right, well, I'm going to head back to the lab, so I can file my report," I said.  
  
"But you didn't collect anything," he was staring at me.  
  
"There is nothing to collect."  
  
"What do you mean?" He said.  
  
"What I mean is what I said, there is no dirt, no fibers, no prints, nothing," I said.  
  
When Grissom saw my report he said, "I should have given it to Warrick, diamonds, your worst nightmare,"  
  
"Yes, most definitely," I replied.  
  
"There was nothing at all?"  
  
"Not even... not even on the front door, he said he only touched the front door, as he came in, but everything was wiped clean, even the door."  
  
"It's all in your report, give it to the detective, unless you want to follow up," Grissom said, I just nodded, I hated diamond thieves, because they were high class, and left no evidence, and Grissom knew I wouldn't follow up.  
  
"Giving so easily?" Warrick asked.  
  
"Diamonds, I don't mess with that, to neat, put away, sides, I hate lying home owners, and that is what this guy is," With that, I walked away, to file my report with the detective who would end up with the case.  
  
"Another one, day shift has had four this week, all the same," The detective looked at the file.  
  
"not quite, this guy says he touched the door, as he came in, but it'd been wiped clean, not been touched since."  
  
"Alright, thank you, and goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight," I replied, glad to be rid of the case.  
  
I went home, after shift, and went straight into Aaron's room, the freshly cleaned smell was still there, from the maid that had come in, I hated coming home to the apartment, without Aaron around. I sat on the couch that made up the bottom of the bunk bed, then curled up, just to fall asleep.  
  
I woke up about noon, feeling better than I had all month, more rested, and energetic, it was great. Six hours later, after doing some grocery shopping, and watching a lot of TV, I went into work, a rare smile on my face. "Nick, what's got you in such a good mood?" Warrick asked.  
  
"Sleep man, uninterrupted, peaceful, dreamless, sleep, the best thing in the world," I replied.  
  
I had barely got that out, when my cell rang, "Hello?"  
  
"Nick Stokes?" The voice on the other end was not familiar to me.  
  
"That's me," I said.  
  
"Your wife..."  
  
"Ex" I corrected.  
  
"Whatever, your EX, failed to pick up your children from daycare, can you come pick them up?"  
  
"I'll be there in five," I said, and pressed the off button, "Warrick, what's Cath's number?"  
  
Warrick gave it to me and asked, "Why?"  
  
"Long story, I'll tell you later."  
  
As I drove to the daycare halfway across town, I dialed Catherine. "What?" She was out of breath.  
  
"Cath, you remember what I told you at the birthday party a month ago, right?"  
  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
  
"Well, my EX, who is nowhere to be found at the moment, didn't pick up the kids at daycare are you working tonight?"  
  
"Yes," she replied.  
  
"Can I have the number of a good babysitter, please?"  
  
"I'll call my babysitter, and see if she can handle the twins," Catherine replied.  
  
"Thank you Cath, you are a life saver," I said.  
  
***Cath's P.O.V.***  
  
"Five year old twins, shouldn't be a problem," Marci said with a smile.  
  
"One of them is deaf, and they are identical," I said.  
  
"I think I can handle it," Marci replied  
  
***Nick's P.O.V.***  
  
I dropped the boys off, and handed Marci a card with my cell number on it, "Kale, and Kyle, if Kale wants something, Kyle WILL" I stared pointedly at him, "Translate, they go to bed no later than eight. I picked up some cookies and juice for them, and call my cell if there is a problem."  
  
"^You boys be good, I'll be back to pick you up, okay? ^" I said, while signing, "^Marci is in charge, ^"  
  
I gave Marci a name sign, to make my life easier. "There shouldn't be a problem," Marci said.  
  
"Don't separate them, Kale gets frustrated easily," I said, I kissed each of the boys on the cheek, and left.  
  
I walked into the break room, as Grissom began to hand out assignments. "Cath, Nick, you have a floater on the strip, Sara, Warrick, you have a south side dB, enjoy, and Greg, you and I have our case from last night to finish up."  
  
"Whoopee," I faked, as we headed to the Tahoe.  
  
"Funny, Nick," Catherine said.  
  
"I know, I am funny, aren't I," I smiled at her.  
  
***Sara's P.O.V.***  
  
When we got to the apartment, I saw the pictures first, a woman, and two children, twins, in every picture they were looking at each other. "The victim is twenty four year old, Irene Wilkenson," An officer said.  
  
"The kids?" I asked.  
  
"No sign of them, we were waiting for guys, so we could play the messages," the officer replied.  
  
Warrick pressed the play button, the first two were from a daycare center, "I know you told me you didn't want me calling him, but I'm calling their father, to pick them up," The girl in the second message said.  
  
"Irene, this is Nick, I've got the boys, at least this time you had the sense to bring them to a daycare before getting high, a friend of mine has them tonight, in the morning, I'm filing for full custody, you know I don't want my kids exposed to that."  
  
"Warrick, you want call him, or should I?" I looked at him.  
  
"He's not going to be sad," Warrick looked at me.  
  
"I'll call," I sighed, and dialed the number, "Stokes," he answered on the first ring.  
  
"Nick, you're gonna need to head back to the lab, this case has your name, right through it," I said.  
  
"What do you mean, Sara?" he asked.  
  
"I mean, that you better pick up your children, from your friend's place, and meet me at the lab," I said.  
  
"How did you know about Kale and Kyle?" he asked.  
  
"Your name, is right through this, Nick,"  
  
"OK, I'll meet you at the lab," he said.  
  
"So?" Warrick asked.  
  
"He'll meet us there."  
  
We collected the evidence from the scene, and went back to the lab, Nick was in the break room, with two boys, they were sleeping on his lap, "and, May I ask what is going on here?" Grissom had walked in behind us.  
  
"I'm guessing Sara will answer that for both of us," Nick said.  
  
"Well, we got to the scene, and there was a message from Nick on the answering machine tape, talking about picking up 'the boys' and so I called him."  
  
"The Victim ..."  
  
"My kids," Nick cut Warrick off.  
  
"Nick knows more about the history behind the case, than any of us," Warrick said.  
  
"Alright, and why did you want my children here?" Nick asked.  
  
"Because we'll need to interview them," I replied.  
  
"Alright, I assume you want us to move to the interrogation room?" Nick said.  
  
Warrick nodded.  
  
***Nick's P.O.V***  
  
I followed Warrick, and Sara to the interrogation room, still holding Kale, Warrick was carrying Kyle. Warrick handed Kyle back to me, once I was sitting down, Sara sat across from me, Grissom, I knew was in the other room. "Nick, they found your Ex girlfriend," Sara said.  
  
"I know, she did drugs, didn't always have the money to pay for them, but when she did, she would binge, usually with the boys in the other room, I told her, time and again, that I didn't want them around that stuff. She kept insisting that she was clean, but she knew, that if I ever found proof, that I would take the boys away," I said, "I got a call tonight, that she hadn't picked the twins up from daycare, so I left, and went to pick them up. On my way back to the lab, I called her and left a message saying I was filing for full custody in the morning."  
  
"Where were you at 5:30?" Sara asked.  
  
"At home, getting ready to come here," I said.  
  
"Anyone see you?" Sara asked.  
  
"Warrick saw me at quarter to six, not enough time to get here from the south side," I replied.  
  
"That's true," Warrick said.  
  
Next they wanted to talk to the boys, "Who do you want to talk to first?" I asked, it was a trick question, of course, I would have them talking to Kyle either way.  
  
"We'll start with Kyle," An hour later, they were done questioning the boys, "Griss, is it all right with you, if I take the boys home, and see you next week, after my vacation?"  
  
"Sure, go on home, Nick, don't forget to punch out," Grissom replied.  
  
Over the next week, I found a ranch house, and put an offer on it, I found two women who I hired to take care of the boys when I was at work, and I filled out every piece of paperwork the government people threw at me. Then I filled out another stack of papers to get my parental second day off. Once that was done, I spent the rest of my time doing stuff with Kale and Kyle, I would take them to the park, and we went to furniture stores to buy things we would need for the new house. My little brother, Aaron, who had moved to Washington, had left the bunk bed, I missed him, but the bed was getting use again, besides the sporadic use I had given it, to actually get some sleep, in the apartment that was much to quiet, without Aaron's happy laughter.  
  
I went back to work on a Monday, and I was given an easy case, thankfully, once I was done, it was open and shut, I went home, to get the hour or two of sleep that Kale and Kyle would allot me each morning. I said goodbye to Maria, and checked on the twins, before stumbling into my room, and falling asleep instantly. At seven , I had no need for an alarm clock, Kale led Kyle into the room, and they began jumping on my bed, laughing like hyenas. I pretended to sleep for a second, then Kyle said, "Daddy, get up, its time for breakfast."  
  
"What do my monsters want for breakfast?" I began tickling them.  
  
Kale, and Kyle fell into a giggling heap on top of my legs. Kale looked at me and I said "^They are on my legs, devouring them, I shall never rise again. ^"  
  
As a child, I had found that signing often got in the way of real fun, so I had begun at an early age, I was probably eight, to teach Aaron how to lip read, that was one thing that helped him excel so much in school. He even went so far as to skip grade three. My deaf brother, was a genius, and there was no way I was going to allow any school to put my son in remedial classes, he had a hearing problem, and had shown that the problem did not extend to his learning.  
  
A/N: I've never written a CSI fic before, and this is the first story I've ever written with deaf people. 


	2. Brother

I forgot to put a disclaimer on chapter 1, but here goes for every chapter, I don't own it, wish I was that smart, and creative, I also don't make any money on any of it, sorry guys, you can sue me for you to pay my debt though, but all you have to do to do that is give me the money, nothing legal or illegal involved.  
  
This is the second chapter, of Father, Brother, Son. Unfortunately for you, this chapter is from a time before chapter 1. Remember, this ^...^ is sign language.  
  
Chapter 2 - Brother  
  
  
  
^Aaron, where are you going to be?^ I signed to my little brother, as he left the apartment.  
  
^I'm going to visit a friend downtown, I'll be back,^ he replied.  
  
He did that every day for three months, I wondered, but he was sixteen, and I hated to impede on his freedom, as long as he went to school, and didn't caused trouble. ^Nicky, come with me, I have something important to show you^ Aaron was excited and that was rare, so I followed him to the bus stop, and we took a bus downtown, Aaron led me into an unmarked high-rise.   
  
^Where are we going?^ I asked.  
  
^I've been taking a course, in DNA profiling, I'm done now, and tonight is my graduation,^ the graduation only had about a dozen people, and they had come to see the others get whatever degree it was. When Aaron came off of the stage he signed, ^I have another surprise, the FBI and the crime labs all came in last week to see what we were doing, the supervisor for the regional FBI office came, and asked me to work in their lab, Nevada's FBI lab is right here, in Vegas^  
  
Forgetting myself, I spoke, rather than signing, "That's great, Aaron, but are you sure you want to work for the FBI already? You're only sixteen."  
  
"Nick," Aaron always preferred not to speak, as he was conscious of the sounds he may make accidentally, "This is what I want to do, please support me?"   
  
^Alright, but you have to promise me that you won't make work your life,^  
  
^I promise,^ Aaron smiled, and I gave him a hug. I had been working at the Las Vegas Crime lab for two years, since I was eighteen, Aaron had moved from Texas to get away from our smothering parents the next year.  
  
The night after Aaron had told me about his working for the FBI, I headed into the lab wherer Grissom was waiting with a new recruit. "Nick, this is Warrick, Warrick, this is Nick, he's younger than you, but he's been here longer, so you have to listen to him."  
  
Warrick and I were sent out together, I realised right away, that he was a gambling man, he also talked constantly with some very general gestures. By the end of shift, I was glad to head home, Aaron and I hung out for a bit before he had to head off to work. I sat on the couch, and watched TV for a bit, when the phone rang, it was a short reach to where the phone sat, "Nick Stokes,"  
  
"Nick, it's Grissom, you up for some overtime?"  
  
"Sure, when?" I asked.  
  
"Come to the scene, it's a fun one, we get to dig them out."  
  
"Alright," When I hung up, I changed into cleaner clothes, and went out to my car, at the scene, I pulled my field kit out, and headed to where Grissom had a small team sifting through dirt, I had been hoping that he had been serious about the digging, but I smiled as I pulled on my gloves, it was always fun digging.  
  
"Nick, I want you doing the delicate work over at the body, I know you took a course on this a couple years back," Grissom said.  
  
I haeded over to the roped off area, and looked down, the bones had been exposed in one spot, Grissom obviously had the team working on the upper layers of dirt. I swept the dirt away from the bones, and saw that it was an arm bone, some dirt had fallen back while they had taken the dirt off the top. Once the arm was cleared, I moved down to expose the wrist, and hand. Using small tools, I cleared the final layers of dirt from the bones, it was nearly dark by the time I had exposed the whole skeleton. I spotted clouds in the distance, "someone begin to set up some shelter, I'll need lights," I looked at the people around me.  
  
Two uniforms went into action right away, the others followed suit, once they were all working, I went back to the layers of dirt that I had to remove. My cell rang about twenty minutes before shift began, it was a TTY relay operator, Aaron hated them, so I figured it had to be important. "Nick, where are you?"   
  
"I'm at a scene, Grissom called me in, because it lies in my interest range."  
  
"Oh, so I guess I'll see you when Grissom sends you home for some rest, then," Aaron said.  
  
"Yeah, I'll see you then."  
  
I went back to work, I hadn't found an obvious cause of death, but I figured that I would soon, the grave was about four feet deep, so I knew whoever it was cared about it not being found. The trench that had been dug around me and the bones went to five feet, and it had a tarp in the bottom to catch anything I brushed off. Grissom had gone back to the lab, and I had one person left to help me on the actual excavation. I had four uniforms to protect the scene, the lights brought in were very bright, but I was used to it, I had all the outer area cleaned off, and I started clearing between the bones, "Nick, Grissom sent me to help you," Warrick was standing under the edge on the tent.  
  
"Take a small bucket, and collect some of the dirt from the trench, sift it, anything abnormal, log it, otherwise put it with the rest," I said.   
  
"So this is really your crime scene?" Warrick said.  
  
"I'm surprised that Grissom sent you, I have another CSI here, and once I'm done with the excavation, it'll all be lab work."  
  
I worked silently, Warrick and the girl talked constantly."Warrick, turn on some music, please," I kept sifting through the dirt as I swept it away from the ribs. "Get me a body bag," I said twenty minutes later, I finally had the bones ready for transport to the morgue.  
  
The coroner's assistant had been the CSI who had been working with me, and he helped move the bones to the body bag. We all headed back to the lab, two uniforms stayed to clean up the scene. The coroner's assistant drove to the morgue, and Warrick followed me back to the lab, so we could process the samples we had gotten from the scene. The lab tech in trace had us third on his list, so we headed to the morgue.   
  
"Nick, you're here about your skeleton, she's right over here," Dr. Robbins pulled back the sheet, showing the whole skeleton in one smooth motion, "She was probably about twenty, the amount of deterioration in the bones themselves, is low, she's probably been dead for about two, three years though, chances are, she had recently given birth, within a month of her death."  
  
"But with that long of a range that you have, that is way to many records," I said, "is there any way that you can narrow that down, definitely"  
  
"Well, not right away, you'll have to use dental records, and I'll extract some DNA from the bones, and send it to the lab, maybe they can get a hit off of CODIS."  
  
"Alright, and I'll take the dental pictures to get any information I can," I said, and Dr. Robbins handed me what I needed.  
  
The DNA tech came into the workroom that I was using, and handed me a sheet, "I got a hit, family, male, probably a brother."  
  
"What kind of hit?" I asked.  
  
"Recently released, been locked up for a year, sexual assault, and the usual other charges usually associated with that."  
  
"I'll get Warrick and go get him," I left the room, and grabbed Warrick from the break room.  
  
"We found her brother," I said, as I opened my car, Warrick got into the passenger side, and I started it. I pulled up in front of the house that the man was renting, and we got out. I led the way to the door, Warrick held back, he had never been in this position, that I knew of. "What do you want?" the man asked.  
  
"I'm Nick Stokes, from Las Vegas Crime lab, could I talk to you?" I said.  
  
"I haven't done anything wrong, why do you want to talk to me?" The man asked.  
  
"Are you Kieran Horn?" I asked.  
  
"Yes, What do you want?" He asked.  
  
"I was wondering if you had a sister?"  
  
"Yes, but I haven't seen Karen for probably three years, she asked me to look after her baby girl, and just left, the poor child was only two weeks old, and, last year, when I was taken off to jail, they put her into foster care, and they won't let me have her back."  
  
"Remains were discovered recently, at the edge of the city, they were to old for the DNA to be in our system, so we did a family scan, you came up as her brother," I said.  
  
"How can you be sure that it's Karen?" Kieran asked.  
  
"We'll compare dental records, and it is much easier with a name, also, would you mind coming in so we can ask a few more questions?"   
  
"Of course, do you know how she died?"   
  
"No, it's difficult to tell, unless it involves the bone structure, it will take a bit to get all the results back," I replied.  
  
"Are you sure you want to be telling him this, he is our only suspect," Warrick said quietly behind me.  
  
"Warrick, in a case like this, with not much to tell, small bits like that help the family, trust me," Kieran followed us to the street, and followed in his own car.  
  
At the lab, Warrick and I asked some more questions, then I went to trace, she had just started my samples, "Page me if you find anything important, or when you're done, page Warrick if you need an extra hand," I said, before leaving.  
  
I wandered the lab, and annoyed every tech in the place, before trace got back to me. With the report in hand, I went back to DNA, he had paged me, "I ran another sample that doc sent up from your skeleton, it's from the pelvic bone, doc wasn't sure if it would even hold DNA in the first place, but if you find the daughter, you can get a positive ID on the skeleton."  
  
"I've got ID, the brother said that his sister left, two weeks after giving birth to a little girl, he hadn't heard from her since," I said.  
  
I worked on the case for two more days, then I had to put it up, because there were to many other cases, and they were newer, there were several cases on the fish board, and the few clues in this one were so general, that the chances of finding the killer were slim to none.  
  
^Nick, how was work today?^ Aaron asked, when I got back from the shift that I had to tack up the case.  
  
^I had to put it on the fish board in the office today,^ I replied, sadly, it sucked having to put cases up there like that, because it was hard to go back to them later, of course this was already a cold case, so chances of it getting picked up later were even lower.  
  
Time passes quickly when you're busy, and soon the years passed, and the FBI was able to transfer Aaron out of Vegas, when he moved, he left his bunk bed, so that he would have somewhere to sleep when he came home to visit, that would never happen though, circumstances and lies would keep me out of his life, and him out of mine.  
  
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but I wrote it on a school field trip, that's where the digging came from, you try going to a dino museum, and not write about digging. Well that' s all for this chapter, next: Chapter 3 Son. 


	3. Son

This happens even before chapter two, before Nick becomes a CSI, remember the last chapter when you read this, I gave hints. After this chapter, it will move ahead again, remember, I'm not smart enough to actually own CSI or any of it's characters.  
  
Chapter 3 Son  
  
My mother was deaf, and I was ordered around all the time by my dad, he drank a lot, and I had to get anything he asked me for. I spent all my free time on school work, I was smart, but I wanted to get out of the house, with my mom being pushy for both Aaron and I to finish school, and a lot of money belonging to the family, I was allowed to take extra classes at the local college. When I was sixteen, I finished Highschool, I immediately started to take forensics courses at the same college, and I added a geology class, since fossils, and the mystery surrounding them interested me. The first thing I did when I finished my courses, shortly after my eighteenth birthday was apply to every forensics lab in the country, since I had taken all the class work, I hoped I would be considered a good investment for any lab, the field work I had been given was all textbook stuff, but I enjoyed solving the crimes they laid out for us.  
  
The first acceptance came from NewYork, though I didn't know it, my father had intercepted the letter, and I didn't get it, until after the one came from Vegas came, I sent a reply to Vegas saying that their lab had been my first choice, and that I would fly up the very next weekend which I had off from the dig I had been following up on from the geology classes. My father had me bring my mother with me, not that I completely minded, I loved her, and we got along great. While in Vegas, my mom spent her time in the hotel room dad had rented for her, I spent the first night out on the town, I found a couple clubs that I wanted to return to. The day was spent on the strip, in the afternoon, I slept for a bit, before preparing for my interview, at the lab. After a shower, I put on a pair of dress pants, and a practical, stylish button up shirt, no tie. I was given a visitor tag, and was led to an office, the secretary asked me to wait their, I sat for a bit, then began to glance around, the office was filled with files, I couldn't see much detail, it had not been personalized. "You must be Nick Stokes," The man that had entered the room was pudgy and balding, there was another man behind him.  
  
"Yes, I am Nick Stokes," I looked at both men closely, the first man had a cop quality about him, and the other looked more like a scientist, "and you must be detective Brass, which would make you Mr. Grissom."  
  
"You are correct," Mr. Grissom said.  
  
After the interview they promised to call me, I decided to take my mom out for dinner, the restaurant was classy, but the waiter didn't realize my mom was deaf, until I began to translate for her. I didn't mind, the meal was peaceful, and I enjoyed it. We headed back to the hotel at about eight, we hadn't been back long when the phone in the room rang.   
  
"Nick Stokes?" The person on the other end asked.  
  
"Yes, I am Nick Stokes, what can I do for you?" I replied.  
  
"This is Gil Grissom, from the crime lab, We have gone over your application, and your resume, Jim, and I have talked over the decision, we would like to know, when you can start?" He said.  
  
"If I can find an apartment, I could start within a month or so," I said.  
  
"Okay, how about we set a start date about the middle of next month, so you have time to find an apartment,"  
  
"That sounds good, thank you, I appreciate this opportunity," I said.  
  
"I look forward to working with you, you have some skills that we have had use for, but no one with the skills has been around."  
  
I was happy, after I hung up, and I spent the next day looking for apartments. On the second day after I had been told that I got the job, I visited a few different apartments, "When is the apartment available?" I asked, as I visited a third apartment, this time I actually liked it, it was a two bedroom with walls that weren't ugly, and they weren't all white either. The kitchen was fairly large with a comfortable sized living room.  
  
"The apartment will be available for rent next week," The manager replied.  
  
"I'll take it," I said, after taking one last look around.  
  
"Then let's go do some paperwork, I'll also need some background information," he said.  
  
We went to the office, and he sat on the far side of the desk, "I'll need to speak with your current land lord, for a reference check," he said.  
  
"This will be my first apartment," I said.  
  
"That could be a problem, without a previous land lord, we can't be sure you'll be able to pay your rent on time," he said.  
  
"I've got a job lined up, I'm willing to pay the first and last two months' rent in advance, plus a damage deposit, I may not have a tenant record, but this is secure for you, I'm quiet, and the only complaints from my home now, are that my dad yells to loud, he's not even going to be visiting," I said.  
  
"I'm going to need to talk to one of your neighbours then, and the person who will be employing you," the manager said.  
  
I gave him my neighbour's number, I had asked one of them for a reference, and they had agreed. "I'll be starting on the night shift at the Las Vegas Crime lab the middle of next month," I said, as way of telling him who I would be working for, I wasn't quite one hundred percent sure on whether Gil Grissom was my boss, or Detective Brass, I figured that it was Brass, only because he seemed less cool.  
  
At the hotel, my mom had spent the day reading, it was a good chance for her to relax, but I didn't think my dad had meant for her to read the whole week. ^Mom, I saw a park while I was out, do you want to go there, it is nice, and we can relax easily.^  
  
^Sure, just let me get my book,^ I smiled, I would not be accused of not being capable of getting my mom out of the hotel. On the way out, I stopped at the front desk, "Is there any way that I could get the calls to my room phone forwarded to my cell, while I'm out?"  
  
"Just fill out this card, and I'll set it up for you," the desk clerk smiled.  
  
We went to the park, and I laid out the Mexican style blanket I had brought, ^There is a school for the deaf here, university level, the apartment I have is close to it, it's fully set up, so if Aaron ever comes to visit, he'll always be at full ability, and you can call me, because it has TTY^   
  
^Nicky, that is so good, I'm glad, that you found a place like that, but your father will not allow Aaron to visit, it's not safe.^  
  
^Mom, dad can't control us all our lives, that's why I didn't apply in Dallas, when Aaron starts planning for university, he's going to know about the school here,^  
  
^It's not safe here, Nicky, the crime rate is horrible, that's why I won't leave the hotel without you,^  
  
^Mom, Aaron can read lips, and I taught him how to talk, he doesn't talk much, he's self-conscious of his voice^  
  
^You taught Aaron to talk, why?^ she asked, a hurt look on her face.  
  
^Because signing gets in the way of some games, it was never fair to me, that was always an option for him, because he has full control of his voice box, but he was never allowed to learn that at school, you didn't even let them try, so I taught him myself.^  
  
^You had no right, you would remove him from the deaf community, if people found out that he could talk.^  
  
^Mom, you had removed him from the world, that wasn't fair for him, he needs to be able to function in a place other than our town, there is no future there,^  
  
^Maybe not for you, but for your brother there is,^  
  
^Working in a grocery store, stocking shelves, I don't think that's a future, the deaf school here has a sixty percent job placement rate, in good jobs, that's not including the ones who end up stocking shelves and that sort of thing, Aaron is smart, he has a future, and when he's finished school for the year, I'm going to suggest that he apply here, if they accept him, he can do what he wants with his life, he won't be held back by what people think your deaf son can learn, because he's a lot smarter than they think.^  
  
^They're going by my willingness to associate with others?^  
  
^They think you're not smart, because you hide yourself away, they think Aaron is the same way, right now, as he sits, he will not have a future, I would like you to understand, and help him get free of dad's grip, so he can get out of that dead end town, and into the world.^  
  
The conversation ended there, and she went to her book, I turned slightly, I had chosen this park of all the ones that I had seen, because there had been a deaf child here earlier, I figured that mom might see that this wasn't such a bad place. A stray ball was kicked in our direction, I picked it up, to throw it back, the little boy who caught it, put it down right away, and signed thank-you.   
  
As I watched the game, I saw the other kids would often pass it to him, whenever he ran, he made noises like laughter, I smiled, the soccer ball moved more quickly than the kids, even though they were very young, they never grouped together. The second time the ball came over, I made sure to throw it to the same boy, this time lower, he stopped it with his feet, and signed, ^Come be our goalie^  
  
^It would ruin your game,^ I replied.  
  
"Come on, you'd have fun," A girl yelled, she looked a lot like the deaf boy, I figured she was his sister.  
  
I tapped my mom's knee, ^I'm going to play soccer, keep awake^  
  
She nodded, and went back to her book. I joined the game, the goal I was in was made bigger, to make it fair for the other team, and the game continued, occasionally kids would join the game, or have to go home, at about four, a group of five older kids came up, they had two younger ones with them, they were immersed into the game, two of the older kids were put on the same team as me, and the other three were put on the other team. One of each of the younger kids were put on each team, opposite the brother or sister that they had come with. One mother came out of a backyard, first she put down about twenty water bottles, each with a different name on it, then she came over to me, "I'm Catherine Willows, you're a little old to be out here, playing with these kids, and I haven't seen you before."  
  
"I'm Nick Stokes, I'm in town with my mother for a few days, for a job interview, the apartment I'll be living in is in the area, so I came to check out the park, the kids asked me to join them," I replied.  
  
"Where will you be working?" Catherine asked.  
  
"At the crime lab," the game had paused while each of the kids got a drink, "Which one is yours?"  
  
"Oh, I'm not a parent, yet, I just like to come out here, and watch, when I wake up for work, I work at the crime lab too," She said.  
  
"Then I guess I'll be working with you," I said, the kids began drifting back onto the field.  
  
"What part of the lab will you be working in?" she asked.  
  
"I'm an investigator," I said.  
  
"You're fresh from collage as well, if I'm not mistaken in your age," Catherine said.  
  
"I'm eighteen," I replied, the kids started shouting about getting the game going again.   
  
"I see that you're wanted, so I'll let you go, also, if I were you, I'd prepare to work nights before you start next month," Catherine said.  
  
The next day, I was relaxing in my hotel room, when my mother walked in through the door between our rooms that we had just left open. ^I don't think it's a good Idea for Aaron to move here,^  
  
^Mom, I think Aaron should have the choice to live with me, and to go to school here, or stay at home, I only wanted to tell you that I was going to suggest Aaron come to school here, so he'd have a chance at the job he wants, and I don't want you to stop him, please, don't stop him.^  
  
A/N: Well, that's it, what do you think? 


	4. The first day

For anyone that has paid any attention to Nick's family life on the show, I must remind you that this is AU.   
  
Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, do you think I would make Nick thirty something on the show, when the character can't, in my opinion, buy alcohol without being carded? Didn't think so.  
  
Chapter 4: The first day  
  
I was running late on my first day for work, I had been playing soccer with the kids in the park, and hadn't had supper, so I stopped at a drive through, after my shower. I parked in one of the spots that wasn't reserved, and hurried inside, my ID was waiting at the counter, I looked at it closely, as I walked to the break room, where Grissom had told me to meet everyone. CSI level one, I was so happy, I was the second one in the break room, There was a girl I hadn't met sitting on the couch. I chose a chair, near the door. "You might want to put that on," She said.  
  
I looked at her, and nodded, I wasn't truly used to sound anymore, since I muted all my shows, and I was helping the kids in the neighbourhood learn how to sign. "What, you don't talk," She looked at me with narrowed eyes.  
  
"I don't talk to much when I am uncomfortable," I said.  
  
"Nick, how did you beat me here, you left the park like twenty minutes ago," Catherine said, when she walked in.  
  
"I'm from Texas, what else can you expect," I said.  
  
"You're not used to the traffic, so I ask again, how did you beat me here?"  
  
"I flew," I joked.  
  
"Not gonna answer, stubborn, I like that, you'll fit in good with Grissom," Catherine said.  
  
"Good, Nick's here, and you've met Carrie, we're still short one person, Nick, you'll be working with Cath for now, Carrie you've got a DB south side," Grissom handed her the paper, "Cath, Nick, you've got a convenience store robbery."  
  
"Easy one for your first shift," Cath said, "I'm only level two. You won't be going solo for a long while, Grissom is picky that way, you have to pass one of his ever changing quizzes, and you never know when they're coming, but if you ask for privileges, chances are, he'll give you one, and your answer will determine weather you get what you ask for."  
  
"Nice way of doing that, so he's the boss?" I had been pretty sure that Brass was the boss.  
  
"Brass is sick, that's why Grissom gave the assignments tonight, usually Brass does, he's in charge," Catherine said.  
  
"Oh, that's kind of what I had thought," I said.  
  
"Stubborn, inquisitive, and Kind, so far, what other sides are there to Nick Stokes?"  
  
"You'll have to wait, and find out with everyone else, oh, and please don't mention the soccer games to anyone else, the things I do for kids are a little of my private life, that I don't want to share with everyone." I said.  
  
"Alright, I think I can give that to you," Catherine replied.  
  
"Thanks," I smiled.  
  
We got to the scene, and Cath went in first, I followed right behind, Cath introduced us to the cashier, the officer was still outside the open door, "Start dusting for prints," Cath said, I listened, and dusted the counter, "The last time I dusted a convenience store counter, I came up with five dozen prints," I said.  
  
"What, I thought this was your first job?"  
  
"In school, they had us do a few robberies, for the experience, fully supervised, but it's actually an interesting way to learn, especially dusting for prints," I said.  
  
"True, so did you spend your time back in Texas doing the same things you do here?"  
  
"When I could, but I was busy, I have a brother, and he doesn't really get along with kids, so I didn't force him to spend time around them, but I wanted to spend time with him, though I did do some volunteer work with kids,"  
  
"None of your own?" Cath looked at me.  
  
"Nope, sometimes I wish I did though, it's a little lonely without Aaron around," I said.  
  
"You're a social guy, I like that," Cath turned back to what she was doing.  
  
"You're making a mental list of my qualities, do I have to worry about an interoffice crush?" I teased.  
  
"I'm married," Cath stated.  
  
"Poor sport, I get to babysit, right?" I asked.  
  
"I don't have any kids,"  
  
"You were specific with the word yet, when I first met you," I said.  
  
"True, but till it happens, the chances of me having one anytime soon is very low, sorry," Cath shrugged.  
  
"Meanie head, I'm willing to BABYSIT, and you don't even have any children, so not fair."  
  
"You don't have any either,"  
  
"I'm eighteen, that kinda goes against me having one soon," I looked at her.  
  
"Ok, fine, I'll drop it if you will," She said.  
  
"Alright, when do I get off this type of case?" I asked.  
  
"When you pass one of Grissom's tests, probably given tomorrow."  
  
We had soon finished with the scene, at the lab again, we went into the break room, we had just taken out our lunches, when Grissom came in, he pulled a brown sack out of the fridge, and sat with us. "You up for a riddle?" Grissom looked at me.  
  
"Sure," I looked a little uncertain at Catherine.  
  
"Thirty white horses,  
  
on a red hill,  
  
first they stamp,  
  
then they champ,  
  
then they stand still." Grissom said with a grin  
  
"Teeth, and it's the second riddle during Bilbo and Gollum's riddle game." I smiled back.  
  
"Good memory," Grissom smiled.  
  
"it cannot be seen, cannot be felt,  
  
cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,  
  
it lies behind stars and under hills,  
  
and empty holes it fills.  
  
It comes first and follows after,   
  
ends life, and kills laughter." I looked him in the eye as I said this.  
  
"Good one, behind stars, and under hills, would that be the dark?" Grissom maintained eye contact, "my turn,  
  
alive without breath,  
  
cold as death  
  
never thirsty, ever drinking,  
  
all in mail, never clinking,"  
  
"Alive without breath, snakes, and bugs breath air, so it would have to be somthing with gills, fish." I said proudly.  
  
"A box without hinges key or lid,  
  
yet inside, golden treasure is hid."  
  
"An egg, that was an easy one," Grissom stated.  
  
"An eye in a blue face  
  
saw an eye in a green face,  
  
'that eye is like to this eye,'  
  
said the first eye  
  
'but in a low place  
  
not in high place'"  
  
I had to think on that one, it was difficult, what was green, the only thing I could think of was a reflection, but that wasn't a usual riddle answer, "Well?" Grissom asked, proud that he had stumped me at my own instigation.  
  
"Give me a second," I said, thinking hard, then it came to me, my own game, they had all been from the Hobbit, "Sun on daisies," I said, "at least that's what it was when I heard it."  
  
"I was thinking I would stump you, just because the most popular reaction is 'reflection.'" Grissom said.  
  
"Right, well, let's see," I said.  
  
"What has roots as nobody sees,  
  
is taller than trees  
  
up, up it goes,  
  
and yet never grows?"  
  
"Well trees never get big around here, so that could be a lot of things now, but keeping with theme, I should think of 'The Hobbit,'" Grissom said, as he thought, we both ate a couple bites, then he said, "Mountains, of course."  
  
"Right, right, next one is for me," I smiled.  
  
"Pick a hard one Griss, I want to see what this boy knows," A voice came from the door, I recognized it as Brass.  
  
"Voiceless it cries,  
  
wingless flutters,  
  
toothless bites,  
  
mouthless mutters"  
  
"Voiceless it cries,  
  
wingless flutters,  
  
toothless bites,  
  
mouthless mutters," I mumbled back to myself, "How would you react, if I said, Wind" I was looking at Brass, by turning around in my chair.  
  
"Is he right?" Brass looked at Grissom.  
  
"I'll let you figure that out, Jim," Grissom smiled.  
  
"I've got a good one for you, Grissom," I smiled.  
  
"this thing all things devours  
  
birds, beasts, trees flowers  
  
gnaws iron bites steel  
  
grinds hard stones to meal  
  
slays king, ruins town,  
  
and beats high mountain down,"  
  
After thinking for awhile grissom began muttering to himself. We all continued eating, until Brass' cell phone rang. All of us were headed for the crime scene right away. I rode with Cath, Grissom, and Brass were taking a different vehicle. "So, what's the Answer, I can't figure it out," Catherine said.  
  
"Promise not to tell Grissom?" I asked.  
  
"I promise," Catherine said.  
  
"The answer is time, and if I find out that you told Grissom, I will not be happy with you," I looked at her seriously.  
  
"I won't," she said, as we pulled up at the house.  
  
"This is your first DB, and since Griss didn't send me on another assignment, I take it it's kind of big," Catherine said, before I could get out.  
  
"Alright, I'll take that to heart," I smiled at her, she was really helping me.  
  
Grissom and Brass pulled up behind us, the officers already at the scene were standing around, "Brass, I don't know if you want to bring your new guy in there, it's pretty bad," the first uniform said to them.  
  
"Nick, if you have a problem with the scene, go on out, ok?" Brass looked at me kindly.  
  
"I will do what has to be done, I'm pretty tough," I said.  
  
I followed Grissom in, with Brass and Catherine behind, "Cath, you take the upstairs, Nick and I will take down here," Grissom said.  
  
She nodded, and headed for the stairs, Grissom lead me further into the house, the main floor was larger than the upstairs, you could tell that from the outside, Grissom started talking again. "There's one body upstairs, in the hallway, coming out of the bedroom up there, and there is one in a bedroom down here," he said, I was on the opposite side of the hallway from him, the kitchen was visible, there was a doorway coming up on my side, I held my case tightly, as I poked my head in, I had helped with excavate the remains of two separate bodies, the first was a skeleton, and I was working on the trench around it, the second was more difficult, the body was badly decayed, but as I dug the trench, as I had been told, the dirt around it proved to be soaked with liquid of some kind, and it wasn't water, it turned out to be from the body, I had stunk for weeks after that.  
  
I hadn't seen a dead body since then, I peeked in the doorway, "This is the bedroom," I said, the girl was on the floor at the foot of the bed, "David has already cleared this one," Grissom said.  
  
I took a step into the room, and looked over the body, she was probably eighteen, and she wore pajamas. "Nick, you start taking pictures of the room," Grissom said.  
  
I started with the body, then I moved to the bed, the covers were not disturbed near the bottom of the bed, or on one side, I moved to that side, and took a couple more 


	5. 4b you never forget

Sorry this took so long, I've been working a lot, and school, and I just realized that chapter 4 ended in a cliff hanger, so I have to write this chapter before I can post the chapter I do have done, and I've got another after that almost done.  
  
Chapter 4b You Never forget  
  
I took a step into the room, and looked over the body, she was probably eighteen, and she wore pajamas. "Nick, you start taking pictures of the room," Grissom said.  
  
I started with the body, then I moved to the bed, the covers were not disturbed near the bottom of the bed, or on one side, I moved to that side, and took a couple more   
  
"Nick, come here, and bring the Polaroid," Grissom said. I went to the hallway, where we had left our boxes. I grabbed the instant camera, leaving the regular one around my neck.  
  
I stood next to where Grissom was crouching, "I know you're still on the general photos, but what does that look like to you?" Grissom pointed with his pen to a black spot on her pajamas, where there was no blood. I snapped a quick picture, after crouching next to Grissom.  
  
"Looks like dirt," I said, lowering my head a little more, "No, it's a burn mark,"  
  
"A round burn mark, on pajamas, it seems that someone is a smoker, maybe our killer," Grissom turned his head to look at me.  
  
"Or it was already there," I replied.  
  
"Maybe, go get the assistants to pick her up, will you," Grissom said.  
  
I nodded, and headed out of the room. Once the girl was gone, Grissom sent me to check out the kitchen, I walked into the linoleum covered room, and looked around, I took pictures of the whole kitchen, and then checked each cupboard, to see if there was any thing out of place, I turned away from the wall, and looked at the island, I checked each drawer, Cath came in, "Nick, we found the knife, it's been wiped down, does it look like any of the knives in here?"  
  
I went back a drawer, to the one I had just closed, and pulled it open, the knives were in slots, some with more than one knife, I took one out, and said, "If I was going to take something from their own kitchen, I'd use this one,"   
  
"Is there an empty spot?" Cath asked.  
  
"There is some space," I said, putting the knife back, and motioning to the upper half of the slot, meant for a bigger knife. "The smaller knives are all stacked,"  
  
"That might help, thanks Nick, dust the drawer for prints," Cath left again. I shook my head, as I reached for my case, there were no finger prints, but I did come up with a strange print, I lifted it, and took it to Grissom.  
  
"Grissom, I found a strange print, in the kitchen," I said, he stood from where he was kneeling on the floor.  
  
"Let's see it," He took the lift sheet from me, and said, "A glove print, probably, but that you picked it up with finger print powder, means there was oil on it, maybe even sweat, dust the counters, see if you can find something else."  
  
I nodded, and headed back, the counter took awhile, and I was getting bored by the end of it. Once the counters were done, I finished looking in the cupboards, and drawers.  
  
I was checking the kitchen floor for fibers, when I glanced up, to see Carrie standing in the doorway. "I can't believe you are just willing to stay down here, all the action is upstairs."  
  
"There is quite enough to do down here, I don't need to go up there," I spotted what I was looking for, on the perfectly washed floor, there were a total of five things, three of them were pieces of thread.   
  
I held the bags up, the strings were three different lengths, one was three inches long, one was only a little bit, and the third was nearly two feet long, they were white, matching the floor.  
  
"What's that?" Carrie asked.  
  
"Thread, it seems weird that it would be on a perfectly clean floor though."  
  
There was also a small amount of dirt, and a cloth fiber.  
  
Carrie left, and I moved around the kitchen, there was a pantry with a broom, and I dusted that for prints, I found another funny glove type mark, the dust pan had the same mark on it. Grissom came in, "How's it going in here?" he asked  
  
"The kitchen got a thorough cleaning, recently, the only prints I found, on the counter, was another one of the glove ones, and I checked the broom, on a hunch, it and the dustpan, have the same mark."  
  
"What kind of killer goes through the trouble of cleaning up the whole crime scene, except where the murders took place?"  
  
"I don't know, but I did find some things in here, there were three pieces of thread, different lengths, one of them, two feet long, a line of dirt, probably from sweeping, and a pale pink cloth fiber."  
  
"Pale pink, there's nothing in this house that color, even upstairs, maybe something the killer brought in with him," Grissom said.  
  
After Grissom headed out, I went over to the last door in the kitchen, it lead to a basement, I took out my flashlight, and stepped carefully down the stairs, each one gave a groan under my weight.  
  
I got to the bottom, and shone my flashlight over the floor, it was bare cement, nothing caught my eye, at first, when I scanned my light over the far corner, I saw something pink, it was moving, "Grissom!" I called up the stairs, his footsteps arrived quickly, he stood at the top of the stairs, "What is it?" he asked.  
  
"Come down here, You'll want to see this," I said, my flashlight had not strayed from the corner. Grissom came down, and stood behind me, "Let's check it out," he said.  
  
I led the way to the object, it moved again, this time, I was close enough to see that it was a blanket, "Grissom, I've been interviewing neighbors, and they say that she just had a baby, a month ago," Cath called down. I knelt down, and with my gloved hand, moved the blanket, exposing a baby's face.  
  
A/N well the last one was unintentional, but this one is very intentional, I'm actually starting to enjoy this accidental case file. Hee, hee, well that's it. 


End file.
